Car-fender.



J. R. LILLEY.

GAR FENDER.

APPLIOATION FILED FEB. 21, 1912,

1,061,245. Patented May 6,.1913.

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COLUMBIA I'LANOORAPH co., WASHINGTON, n. c.

J. R. LILLE Y. GAR FENDER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 21, 1912 11,061,245. Patented May 6, 1913.

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Elmo/whom 2a Z5" COLUMBIA PLANDGRAFH COHWASHINOTON. D. c

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN R. LILLEY, 0F COATESVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA.

CAR-FENDER.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN R. LILLEY, a citizenof the United States, residing at Coatesville, in the county of Chesterand State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Car Fenders; and I do declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

This invention relates to that class of fenders or safety guards forcars in which the front edge of the apron or scoop is normally above andout of contact with the rails and road bed, and is adapted to descend tofunctional position by the operation of a trip on coming into contactwith an obstructing body.

The principal object of theinvention is to provide a car fender havingan improved construction and arrangement of gathering or take-up deviceby means of which any object in the path of the moving car would begathered up without being injured.

Another object is to provide a car fender having an improved arrangementof trip mechanism whereby the take-up devices are released or broughtinto operative position on the engagement of an object by the trip.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for permitting thetrip mechanism to move a predetermined distance without releasing thegathering mechanism, such for instance, as when the trip comes incontact with a small obstruction such as a stone or the like.

In the accompanying drawings; Figure 1 represents a side elevation of aportion of a car equipped with this improved fender, the fender beingshown in normal or inoperative position; Fig. 2 is a longitudinalvertical section thereof on line 2-2 of Fig. 4 with the parts in theposition shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a similar view with parts broken outand with the parts in tripped position and ready to gather up an objecton the track; Fig. 4 is a top plan view with the parts in normalposition; Fig. 5 is a transverse section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig.2; Fig. 6 is a similar view taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 2; Fig. 7 is atransverse section taken on the line 77 of Fig. 3.

In the drawings which are for illustrative purposes only and hence notdrawn to any particular scale, a car body is indicated at ASpecification of Letters Patent.

Application filed February 21, 1912.

Patented May 6,1913.

Serial No. 679,067.

having the usual floor B to the lower face of which is secured a fendersupporting frame 1 but it is obvious that any suitable fender supportingmeans may be employed.

Depending from the frame 1 at opposite sides thereof are brackets 2 and3 from which the rear portion of the gathering mechanism is suspended,and brackets 4 and 5 are arranged on said frame in advance of thebrackets 2 and 3 and are designed to support side guards to bedescribed. These improved side guards as shown comprises longitudinallyextending side plates 6 and 7 spaced laterally and pivotally connectednear their ends to the brackets 2 and 3 and 4 and 5 by means of links 8and 9 and 10 and 11. Connected to these apron side plates 6 and 7intermediately of their ends are plate springs 12 and 13 which arepreferably rigidly secured at one end to the opposite sides of frame 1and have their free ends inserted through keepers as 1 1 on the sideplates 6 and 7. These springs 12 and 13 tend to hold the side plates 6and 7 yieldingly in position and prevent the swinging or wabblingthereof.

A crank shaft 15 is mounted in hearings in the brackets 2 and 3 and isdesigned to form a pivotal support for a rectangular frame 16 which isdesigned to support the gathering apron 17 as will be hereinafter morefully described.

An arm 18 projects rearwardly from the apron frame 16 and a lever 19 ispivotally connected at one end to the free end of said arm and at itsother end to a link 19 pivotally connected to a longitudinally slidablebar 20 mounted in keepers 21 and 22 which depend from the lower face ofthe car floor B and frame 1 respectively. The lever 19 is fulcrumedintermediate of its ends to an ear 23 which extends rearwardly from thecross bar 2 which connects the brackets 2 and 3. A plate spring 24 issecured at one end to the cross bar 2 and is bent over intosubstantially inverted U-shape with its free end engaged with andbearing on the front face of the lever 19 below its fulcrum and isdesigned to force the lower end of said lever 19 rearwardly and therebyforce the gathering apron 17 into lowered position, when released, aswill be hereinafter more fully described and to hold said lever in thisposition.

A tongue or stop 25 is secured to the cross bar 2 and depends into thepath of one of wardly and forwardly from the bar 20 is a V lever 27which passes up through registering passages in the front bar of theframe 1 and in the floor of the car in position to be operated by theengineeror motorman when 1 it is desired to elevate the gatheringmechanism into inoperative position, as will be free end of asubstantially Z-shaped bracket The front end of the bar 20 is preferablyhereinafter described.

bifurcated and a latch 28 is pivotally mounted between the arms thereof,said latch preferably comprising a bar pivotally connectedintermediately of its ends to the arms of said bar 20 and is provlded 1n1ts upper face with a cut out portion forming an inclined face 29 and acatch member 29 which latter is adapted to engage a wear plate 1 on therear face of the front cross bar 1 of the frame 1 when the gatheringmechanism is in normal or inoperative posi tion and thereby lock saidmechanism against accidental actuation, and the spring 24: exerts itstension to hold said catch in engagement with said cross bar. The spring26 also bears on the inner or rear end of the latch 28 and when thecatch 29 thereof passes beyond the rear face of the cross bar it isforced up by said spring into locking engagement with said bar.

The rectangular frame 16 which supports the gathering apron 17 has thefree frontends of its side bars curved upwardly and these curved endsare adapted to rest on the track rails when the apron is in loweredposition. This frame 16 is covered with any suitable material,preferably wire netting, and a rod 30 extends transversely between thefree front ends of said frame and is loosely mounted therein. This rodis preferably made longer than the width between the side bars of theframe 16 to provide for its movement transversely of said frame. A coilspring 31 encircles said rod between the side bars of the frame 16 andthe coils thereof are considerably larger than said rod and are adaptedto rest on the ground of the track between the rails when the apron isin lowered operative position, as shown in Fig. 3, and thereby yieldablysupport the free end of said apron and permit it to ride freely overslight obstructions or unevenness in the track.

The gathering mechanism above described is normally held up or supportedin raised inoperative position a short distance above the track by meansof a suitable trip mechanism now to be described. This improved tripmechanism preferably comprises a substant-ially rectangular frame 32covered with screen, wire, netting or other suitable material and ispivotally connected to arms 33 which project forwardly from the frontend of the frame 1 or from any other suitable support and in a planeabove the plane occupied by the longitudinally sliding bar 20. Thisframe 32 has a cross bar 34: connecting the upper ends of its verticalside bars above their pivotal connect-ion with the arms 33. The latch 28has its front end projecting through the frame 32 below its pivotalconnect-ion with the arms 33 and the upper face of said latch is engagedby the 35 secured at one end to the cross bar 3 1 of the frame 32 andwhich bears normally on said latch 28 and holds it with the catch 29"thereof in operative engagement with the front crossbar of the frame 1,whereby the gathering mechanism is held in inoperative position as shownin Figs. 1 and 2. When the frame 32 is swung inwardly beyond apredetermined point by engagement with an object on the track orotherwise the lateral arm of the Z-shaped bracket 35 engages the incline29 of the latch member 28 and causes the catch 29 to be disengaged fromthe front cross bar of the frame 1, whereby the gathering mechanism isreleased and the apron 17 drops downwardly by the force of gravity andthe tension of v spring 26 into position shown in Fig. 3, the fulcrum ofsaid gathering mechanism or apron being arranged so far in the rear thatthe front portion thereof overbalances the rear portion and forces thebar 20 forward in the keepers which form the guides therefor and thuscarry the catch 29 of the latch 28 beyond the cross bar of the frame 1.When this bar 20 is thus moved forwardly, the upper end of the lever 19is moved forward, thereby causing its lower end to be moved backwardlyand upwardly and thus to exert an upward pull on the arm 18 of the frame16 and force the front end of said frame downwardly, the free end of thespring 2 1 assuming the position shown in Fig. 3. When the apron dropsinto this position, the free ends of the side bars of the frame of saidapron engage the rails of the track and the wire net-ting of the apronis dropped into scooping position for gathering up any obstruction onthe track.

hen the parts are in tripped position, the

Should such an accident occur, the depend ing tongue 25 would be forcedinto engagement with the rear cross bar of the frame 16 and thereby locksaid frame against upward movement.

When the gathering mechanism has been thrown into operation by theengagement of the trip member 32 by an obstructing object and it isdesired to raise said gathering mechanism into normal inoperativeposition, the motor-man or engineer depresses the lever 27, which, beingcurved downwardly and rearwardly, forces the bar 20 backwardly and thusmoves the upper end of the lever 19 rearwardly and its lower endforwardly, thereby causing the apron frame to move forwardly and carrythe crank shaft 15 from off the dead center and permitting the apron toswing upwardly. WVhen the bar 20 is so moved rearwardly the catch 29 isalso moved into position to engage it with the front cross bar of theframe 1, thereby locking the gathering mechanism in raised inoperativeposition ready for actuation again by the trip member 32.

The latch 28 is so pivotedthat there is a preponderance of itsweightforward of its pivot. and when said latch is forced down by a bracket 35on the trip member 32, the bar 20 is released and moves forward, and thenose of the catch 29 engages the lower face of the front cross bar ofthe car body, being held in this position by the spring 26 which bearson its rear end, (see Fig. When the bar 20 is moved rearwardly thespring 26 forces the rear end of the latch 28 down when the catch 29passes beyond the rear edge of the cross bar of the car, thereby forcingsaid catch upwardly into engagement with the rear edge of said cross barand holds it in this position.

I claim as my invention:

1. A supporting structure, a gathering mechanism mounted on saidstructure, a depending pivotally mounted trip element mounted in advanceof said gathering mechanism, a latch for locking said gatheringmechanism to said supporting structure to hold said mechanism ininoperative position, said trip element having an opening thereinthrough which said latch projects and means on said trip to hold saidlatch in locked position when the trip is in normal position to releaseit on the swinging rearward of said trip element beyond a predeterminedpoint.

2. In a car fender, a supporting structure, a frame pivotally supportedat one end on said structure, a downwardly and forwardly curvedgathering apron secured to said frame, means to limit the movement ofsaid frame when swung to operative and inoperative positions, a slidablymounted member connected with said frame, a catch secured to saidmember, a catch engaging element on said supporting structure andadapted to be engaged by said catch when the frame is raised wherebysaid gathering mechanism is supported in an inoperative position, a tripsecured to said supporting structure and normally projecting down inposition to engage an object lying in the path of movement of the carand whereby when said trip engages said object the catch will bereleased to permit the gathering mechanism to swing down to an operativeposition, and means for locking said frame stationary while an object isbeing engaged and lifted bv said gathering mechanism.

3. A car fender comprising a supporting structure, a frame pivoted atits rear end in said structure, a gathering apron mounted in said frame,a member mounted to slide longitudinally in a plane above said apron, alever fulcrumed intermediately of its ends and pivotally connected atits opposite ends to said frame and said sliding member respectively, aninverted U-shaped spring secured at one end to said supporting structureand with its free end engaging said lever below its fulcrum, a catch barpivoted intermediate of its ends to said sliding member, a springbearing angularly on the rear end of said catch bar, means forengagement by said catch bar for locking said slidable member inretracted position, whereby said apron is held in inoperative position,and a trip for releasing said catch bar operable by an object on thetrack.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand 1n presence of twosubscribing w1tnesses.

JOHN R. LILLEY. iVitnesses i L. M. L. SKnL'roN, Jos. C. SKELTON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C.

